Mumbai journalists hold protest to condemn gangrape

Journalists on Friday held a rally and a 'silent protest' in Mumbai to condemn the brutal gangrape of a photojournalist, interning with an English magazine.

The protesters expressed dissatisfaction over the deteriorating law and order situation in the metropolis and the state.

They were seen holding banners and placards about the gangrape and the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.

Members of the Press Club Mumbai, Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, Television Journalist Association, Bombay News Photographers Association and Mantralaya and Vidhi Mandal Vartahar Sangh, participated in the protest, at the Hutatma Chowk in Mumbai.

They said the killing of Dabholkar in Pune, and the rape of the photojournalist in the heart of Mumbai showed that the police had failed to provide safety and security to ordinary citizens.

The organisations have demanded that all necessary steps be taken to ensure that safety and security of journalists and common citizens, is not compromised.

Representatives of the journalists' organisations later went to Mantralaya to meet home minister RR Patil to seek stringent punishment for the culprits.

The 23-year-old scribe was allegedly gangraped by five men yesterday near Shakti Mills in Lower Parel area here when she was on an assignment, doing a story on the city chawls.